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A collaboration scheme for wireless communications devices implemented on
a single CMOS integrated circuit is described. By providing a dynamically
updateable, multiple-priority protocol, more differentiation between
traffic types is provided and response time (latency) is reduced by
adjusting the priority allocations between the devices when an
application on one device requires greater throughput.

1. In an integrated circuit wireless communication device having at least
two wireless transceiver circuits, a method for coordinating potentially
conflicting wireless communications, comprising: assigning first and
second priority indications to first and second wireless transceiver
circuits, respectively, where each priority indication may be selected
from a plurality of available priority indications; receiving or
transmitting data on the first wireless transceiver circuit in accordance
with the relative priority of the first priority indication to the second
priority indication; detecting a predetermined application that
configured to receive or transmit data on the second wireless transceiver
circuit; assigning a third priority indication to the second wireless
transceiver circuit when the predetermined application is detected; and
receiving or transmitting data on the second wireless transceiver circuit
in accordance with the relative priority of the third priority indication
to the first priority indication.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first wireless transceiver circuit
comprises a MAC layer module that is directly coupled to a MAC layer
module of the second wireless transceiver circuit such that a priority
indication may be transferred between the MAC layer modules.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the third priority indication is a
maximum priority indication that is available from the plurality of
available priority indications.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the third priority indication is greater
than the second priority indication.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second wireless transceiver circuit
comprises a Bluetooth application, and the predetermined application
comprises a Human Interface Device driver.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving or transmitting data on
the second wireless transceiver circuit in accordance with the relative
priority of the third priority indication to the first priority
indication comprises receiving or transmitting data on the second
wireless transceiver circuit if the third priority indication has a
higher priority than the first priority indication.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the first priority indication comprises
a user-specified priority indication for the first wireless transceiver
circuit, such that the first wireless transceiver circuit is given
priority in the reception or transmission of data relative to the second
wireless transceiver circuit.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the first wireless transceiver circuit
comprises a first Bluetooth wireless interface device, and wherein the
second wireless transceiver circuit comprises a second Bluetooth wireless
interface device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first wireless transceiver circuit
is compliant with Bluetooth and the second wireless transceiver circuit
is compliant with IEEE 802.11(b) or IEEE 802.11(g).

11. An apparatus for coordinating wireless communications, comprising: a
first wireless interface circuit for performing receiving or transmitting
operations of a first type of wireless communication having a first
priority level selected from a first plurality of priority levels; a
second wireless interface circuit for performing receiving or
transmitting operations of a second type of wireless communication having
a second priority level selected from a second plurality of priority
levels; an interface coupling the first and second wireless interface
circuits for transmitting priority levels between the first and second
wireless interface circuits; and a controller for coordinating the
operations of the first or second wireless interface circuits in relation
to a relative priority of the first and second priority levels, said
controller comprising priority level adjustment logic for adjusting a
priority level in response to detecting a predetermined condition.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the first wireless transceiver
circuit is compliant with Bluetooth and the second wireless transceiver
circuit is compliant with IEEE 802.11.

14. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the controller comprises a first
MAC layer module in the first wireless interface circuit and a second MAC
layer module in the second wireless interface circuit.

15. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the predetermined condition
comprises a request to receive or transmit real time data over the second
wireless interface circuit.

16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the predetermined condition
comprises real-time human interface device (HID) traffic being
transmitted or received on the second wireless interface circuit, and
wherein the priority level adjustment logic increments the second
priority level.

17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the predetermined condition
comprises a user-specified priority level being entered for the second
wireless interface circuit, and wherein the priority level adjustment
logic increments the second priority level above the first priority level
in response to detecting the user-specified priority level.

18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the predetermined condition
comprises audio-video traffic being transmitted or received on the second
wireless interface circuit, such that the controller protects the second
wireless interface circuit from interference caused by the first wireless
interface circuit by adjusting the second priority level to a maximum
level and adjusting the first priority level to a minimum level.

19. An apparatus for implementing a dynamic collaboration protocol,
comprising: first means for sending or receiving a first wireless signal
having a first allocated priority, comprising a first MAC layer module;
second means for sending or receiving a second wireless signal having a
second allocated priority, comprising a second MAC layer module; means
for adjusting the second allocated priority to be higher than the first
allocated priority if real-time human interface device (HID) traffic is
detected on the second means; and means for interfacing the first and
second MAC layer modules to coordinate throughput performance of the
first and second means such that whichever of the first or second means
has a higher allocated priority is given higher throughput performance.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the second wireless signal
comprises a packet signal, and wherein the means for adjusting the second
allocated priority evaluates each packet of the packet signal to detect
if real-time human interface device (HID) traffic is present on the
second means.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention is directed in general to wireless
communication systems. In one aspect, the present invention relates to a
method and system for providing cooperative data transmission between two
or more wireless communication devices.

[0003] 2. Related Art

[0004] Communication systems are known to support wireless and wire-lined
communications between wireless and/or wire-lined communication devices.
Such communication systems range from national and/or international
cellular telephone systems to the Internet to point-to-point in-home
wireless networks. Each type of communication system is constructed, and
hence operates, in accordance with one or more communication standards.
For instance, wireless communication systems may operate in accordance
with one or more standards including, but not limited to, IEEE 802.11,
Bluetooth (BT), advanced mobile phone services (AMPS), digital AMPS,
global system for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple
access (CDMA), local multi-point distribution systems (LMDS),
multi-channel-multi-point distribution systems (MMDS) and/or variations
thereof.

[0005] Depending on the type of wireless communication system, a wireless
communication device (such as a cellular telephone, two-way radio,
personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), laptop
computer, home entertainment equipment, etc.) communicates directly or
indirectly with other wireless communication devices. For direct
communications (also known as point-to-point communications), the
participating wireless communication devices tune their receivers and
transmitters to the same channel or channels (e.g., one of the plurality
of radio frequency (RF) carriers of the wireless communication system)
and communicate over the tuned channel(s). For indirect wireless
communications, each wireless communication device communicates directly
with an associated base station (e.g., for cellular services) and/or an
associated access point (e.g., for an in-home or in-building wireless
network) via an assigned channel. To complete a communication connection
between the wireless communication devices, the associated base stations
and/or associated access points communicate with each other directly, via
a system controller, via the public switched telephone network, via the
Internet, and/or via some other wide area network.

[0006] Wireless communication devices typically communicate with one
another using a radio transceiver (i.e., receiver and transmitter) that
may be incorporated in, or coupled to, the wireless communication device.
The transmitter typically includes a data modulation stage, one or more
frequency conversion stages and a power amplifier. The data modulation
stage converts raw data into baseband signals in accordance with a
particular wireless communication standard. The frequency conversion
stages mix the baseband signals with one or more local oscillations to
produce RF signals. The power amplifier amplifies the RF signals prior to
transmission via an antenna. In direct conversion transmitters/receivers,
conversion directly between baseband signals and RF signals is performed.
The receiver is typically coupled to an antenna and includes a low noise
amplifier, one or more frequency conversion stages, a filtering stage and
a data recovery stage. The low noise amplifier receives inbound RF
signals via the antenna and amplifies them. The frequency conversion
stages mix the amplified RF signals with one or more local oscillations
to convert the amplified RF signal into baseband signals or intermediate
frequency (IF) signals. The filtering stage filters the baseband signals
or the IF signals to attenuate unwanted out of band signals to produce
filtered signals. The data recovery stage recovers raw data from the
filtered signals in accordance with the particular wireless communication
standard.

[0007] As the use of wireless communication devices increases, many
wireless communication devices will include two or more radio
transceivers, where each radio transceiver is compliant with any of a
variety of wireless communication standards may be used with the
exemplary communication systems described herein, including Bluetooth,
IEEE 802.11(a), (b), (g) and others. For instance, a computer may include
two radio transceivers, one for interfacing with a peripheral device
(such as a keyboard or mouse) and another for interfacing with a wireless
local area network (WLAN) interfacing. Even though the two radio
transceivers are compliant with different wireless communication
standards, they may occupy the same or similar frequency spectrum, and
thus will interfere with each other's ability to receive inbound packets.
For example, if one radio transceiver is compliant with Bluetooth and the
other is compliant with IEEE 802.11(b) or IEEE 802.11(g), both radio
transceivers would operate in the 2.4 GHz frequency range. In this
example, if the Bluetooth radio transceiver is receiving a packet and the
IEEE 802.11 radio transceiver begins transmitting a packet, the
transmission may interfere with the Bluetooth radio transceiver's ability
to accurately receive the packet. Similarly, if the IEEE 802.11 radio
transceiver is receiving a packet and the Bluetooth radio transceiver
begins transmitting a packet, the transmission by the Bluetooth radio may
interfere with the IEEE 802.11 radio transceiver's ability to accurately
receive the packet. In addition, concurrent transmission by both the IEEE
802.11 radio transceiver and the Bluetooth radio transceiver may cause
interference, thus corrupting one or both transmissions.

[0008] Prior attempts to address this problem have implemented frequency
domain collaboration techniques, such as adaptive frequency hopping
(AHF), which is a driver level coordination of the device performance.
One drawback associated with AHF is an interoperability requirement
whereby all of the Bluetooth devices must be able to understand the AHF
technique. Another difficulty is that it can be difficult to determine
when to enable the AFH technique. There can also be a spectrum efficiency
problem when, through MAC layer assistance, a current 802.11 channel is
given to a Bluetooth device and the AFH explicitly skips the overlapped
channel which could actually be reused if the WLAN device is not
transmitting. In short, AHF does not, by itself, protect sufficiently
against interference from concurrent transmission or reception. Another
attempted solution is a time domain collaboration technique (also
referred to as collaborative coexistence) which is a MAC level
coexistence protocol between Bluetooth and 802.11 devices using a simple
prioritization MAC layer coexistence protocol, whereby two or four pins
are used to couple the MAC modules, such as described in U.S. patent
application Ser. No. ______ (entitled "Peer To Peer Wireless
Communication Conflict Resolution"), which is incorporated herein by
reference in its entirety. The initial versions of the Broadcom BCM4306
and BCM94306 products also implemented a simple two wire coexistence
protocol using two levels of priority. While standard two wire
coexistence techniques allow priority to be reserved for a specified
wireless device (BT or WLAN), such techniques are not well optimized for
real-time operations.

[0009] In addition to the complexity of the computational requirements for
a communications transceiver, such as described above, the
ever-increasing need for higher speed communications systems imposes
additional performance requirements and resulting costs for
communications systems. In order to reduce costs, communications systems
are increasingly implemented using Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI)
techniques. The level of integration of communications systems is
constantly increasing to take advantage of advances in integrated circuit
manufacturing technology and the resulting cost reductions. This means
that communications systems of higher and higher complexity are being
implemented in a smaller and smaller number of integrated circuits. For
reasons of cost and density of integration, the preferred technology is
CMOS. To this end, digital signal processing ("DSP") techniques generally
allow higher levels of complexity and easier scaling to finer geometry
technologies than analog techniques, as well as superior testability and
manufacturability.

[0010] Therefore, a need exists for a method and apparatus that provides
cooperation between two or more common band wireless communication
devices to substantially eliminate interference caused by concurrent
operations. In addition, a need exists for a method and apparatus that
prioritizes competing data transmissions between wireless communication
devices, such as Bluetooth and 802.11 devices. Moreover, a need exists
for a method and apparatus that coordinates competing wireless data
transmissions so that real time operations are not impaired. There is
also a need for a better system that is capable of performing the above
functions and overcoming these difficulties using circuitry implemented
in integrated circuit form. Further limitations and disadvantages of
conventional systems will become apparent to one of skill in the art
after reviewing the remainder of the present application with reference
to the drawings and detailed description which follow.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Broadly speaking, the present invention provides an improved method
and system for reducing interference between competing wireless
communication devices. Using a multi-priority coexistence protocol at the
MAC layer, throughput on the devices may be fine tuned and dynamically
updated to reduce or eliminate interference between wireless
communication devices without affecting the latency and throughput
requirements for either Bluetooth or 802.11-based applications. This may
be accomplished using multiple, programmable priority levels for
improving MAC level coordination which are dynamically assigned based on
the throughput requirements for the devices that may be defined with
reference to the active applications and/or user-specified performance
requirements. For example, a multi-priority coexistence protocol is
provided for dynamically protecting real-time human interface device
(HID) traffic (such as Bluetooth-based mouse, keyboard, etc.) from 802.11
interference.

[0012] In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, a
method and apparatus provide for coordination of potentially conflicting
wireless communications with a communication device by using multiple,
dynamically updateable priority levels that are adjusted based on the
detection of predetermined applications that are transmitting or
receiving on the device. In a selected embodiment, the communication
device includes wireless transceiver circuits, each of which has an
assigned priority indication. Data receive/transmit operations on the
transceiver circuits are ordered or coordinated by MAC layer modules in
each circuit in accordance with the relative priorities of the priority
indications. In a selected embodiment, the MAC layer modules are directly
coupled by a priority control interface. For example, a first transceiver
circuit with a higher priority is provided greater access to the
receive/transmit operations than a second transceiver circuit with a
lower priority. However, if a predetermined application (such as a HID
driver, an audio-video application, or some other real-time data signal)
is detected as transmitting or receiving on the second transceiver
circuit, its priority is increased or incremented or maximized to a third
priority indication and data is received or transmitted on the second
transceiver circuit in accordance with the relative priority of the third
priority indication to the first priority indication. With this
technique, communication device may coordinate a first wireless interface
device (i.e., a WLAN or 802.11 device) with a second wireless interface
(i.e., a Bluetooth device) to dynamically adjust the transmit/receive
priority to the second wireless interface if a predetermined application
is detected or if a user-specified priority is assigned to the second
wireless interface.

[0013] The objects, advantages and other novel features of the present
invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when
read in conjunction with the appended claims and attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication
system in accordance with the present invention.

[0015] FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless communication
device in accordance with the present invention.

[0016] FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a wireless interface device
in accordance with the present invention.

[0017] FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a selected embodiment of an
antenna section in accordance with the present invention.

[0018] FIG. 5 is a graphical representation of the dynamically
programmable throughput options provided by having multiple priority
levels in accordance with the present invention.

[0019] FIG. 6 is a logic diagram of a method for cooperative transceiving
between wireless interface devices in accordance with the present
invention.

[0020] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating cooperative transceiving between
wireless interface devices of a host device in accordance with the
present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] A method and apparatus for an improved wireless communication
system is described. While various details are set forth in the following
description, it will be appreciated that the present invention may be
practiced without these specific details. For example, selected aspects
are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in order to avoid
obscuring the present invention. Some portions of the detailed
descriptions provided herein are presented in terms of algorithms or
operations on data within a computer memory. Such descriptions and
representations are used by those skilled in the field of communication
systems to describe and convey the substance of their work to others
skilled in the art. In general, an algorithm refers to a self-consistent
sequence of steps leading to a desired result, where a "step" refers to a
manipulation of physical quantities which may, though need not
necessarily, take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of
being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated.
It is common usage to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements,
symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. These and similar terms
may be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely
convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated
otherwise as apparent from the following discussion, it is appreciated
that throughout the description, discussions using terms such as
processing, computing, calculating, determining, displaying or the like,
refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar
electronic computing device, that manipulates and/or transforms data
represented as physical, electronic and/or magnetic quantities within the
computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly
represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or
registers or other such information storage, transmission or display
devices.

[0022] FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless communication system 10 in which
embodiments of the present invention may operate. As illustrated, the
wireless communication system 10 includes a plurality of base stations
and/or access points 12, 16, a plurality of wireless communication
devices 18-32 and a network hardware component 34. The wireless
communication devices 18-32 may be laptop host computers 18 and 26,
personal digital assistant hosts 20 and 30, personal computer hosts 32,
cellular telephone hosts 28 and/or wireless keyboards, mouse devices or
other Bluetooth devices 22, 24. The details of the wireless communication
devices will be described in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 2-7.

[0023] As illustrated, the base stations or access points 12, 16 are
operably coupled to the network hardware 34 via local area network
connections 36, 38. The network hardware 34 (which may be a router,
switch, bridge, modem, system controller, etc.) provides a wide area
network connection 42 for the communication system 10. Each of the base
stations or access points 12, 16 has an associated antenna or antenna
array to communicate with the wireless communication devices in its area.
Typically, the wireless communication devices register with a particular
base station or access point 12, 16 to receive services from the
communication system 10. For direct connections (i.e., point-to-point
communications), wireless communication devices communicate directly via
an allocated channel. Regardless of the particular type of communication
system, each wireless communication device includes a built-in radio
and/or is coupled to a radio. The radio includes a highly linear
amplifier and/or programmable multi-stage amplifier as disclosed herein
to enhance performance, reduce costs, reduce size, and/or enhance
broadband applications.

[0024] FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a radio
implemented in a wireless communication device that includes the host
device or module 50 and at least one wireless interface device, or radio
transceivers, 57, 59. The wireless interface devices may be built in
components of the host device 50 or externally coupled components. As
illustrated, the host device 50 includes a processing module 51, memory
52, peripheral interface(s) 54, 55, input interface 58 and output
interface 56. The processing module 51 and memory 52 execute the
corresponding instructions that are typically done by the host device.
For example, in a cellular telephone device, the processing module 51
performs the corresponding communication functions in accordance with a
particular cellular telephone standard.

[0025] For data received from the wireless interface device 59 (e.g.,
inbound data), the peripheral interface 55 provides the data to the
processing module 51 for further processing and/or routing to the output
interface 56. The output interface 56 provides connectivity to an output
display device such as a display, monitor, speakers, etc., such that the
received data may be displayed. The peripheral interface 55 also provides
data from the processing module 51 to the wireless interface device 59.
The processing module 51 may receive the outbound data from an input
device such as a keyboard, keypad, microphone, etc. via the input
interface 58 or generate the data itself. For data received via the input
interface 58, the processing module 51 may perform a corresponding host
function on the data and/or route it to a wireless interface device 59
via the peripheral interface 55.

[0026] The radio or wireless interface devices 57, 59 include a
media-specific access control protocol (MAC) layer module, a
digital-to-analog converter (DAC), an analog to digital converter (ADC)
and a physical layer module (PHY) (which may include the DAC and ADC
units). As will be appreciated, the modules in the wireless interface
device are implemented with a communications processor and an associated
memory for storing and executing instructions that control the access to
the physical transmission medium in the wireless network. The peripheral
interfaces 54, 55 allow data to be received from and sent to one or more
external devices 63, 65 via the wireless interface devices 57, 59. Each
external device includes its own wireless interface device for
communicating with the wireless interface device of the host device. For
example, the host device may be personal or laptop computer and the
external device 65 may be a headset, personal digital assistant, cellular
telephone, printer, fax machine, joystick, keyboard, desktop telephone,
or access point of a wireless local area network. In this example,
external device 65 is an IEEE 802.11 wireless interface device and
external device 63 is a Bluetooth wireless interface device.

[0027] In operation, to avoid interference between the two or more
wireless interface devices 57 and 59 of the wireless communication
device, the MAC layer modules of each wireless interface device 57 and 59
communicate directly with one another to exchange multi-priority control
signal information 29 to avoid concurrent transmission and/or reception
of wireless transmissions with the corresponding external device if such
concurrent transmission or reception would cause interference. As
illustrated, the multi-priority control signals are exchanged using two
or more pins or wires, though as will be appreciated, more or fewer
connections may be used to exchange or transmit the control information
if appropriate signaling techniques are used. The methods by which the
MAC layer modules detect, adjust and/or set the control information may
be executed by the processing module(s) and other transceiver module(s)
included in the wireless interface devices 57, 59, or may alternatively
be executed by the processing functionality in the host device 50.

[0028] FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of the signal processing
modules included in a wireless interface device (i.e., a radio) 60 which
includes a host interface 62, digital receiver processing module 64, an
analog-to-digital converter (ADC) 66, a filtering/attenuation module 68,
a down-conversion stage 70, a receiver filter 71, a low noise amplifier
72, a transmitter/receiver switch 73, a local oscillation module 74,
memory 75, a digital transmitter processing module 76, a
digital-to-analog converter (DAC) 78, a filtering/gain module 80, a
mixing up-conversion stage 82, a power amplifier 84, and a transmitter
filter module 85. The transmitter/receiver switch 73 is coupled to the
antenna 61, which may include two antennas 86, 89 and an antenna switch
87 (as shown in FIG. 4) that is shared by the two wireless interface
devices and is further shared by the transmit and receive paths as
regulated by the transmit/receive switch 73. Alternatively, the antenna
section 61 may include separate antennas for each wireless interface
device (as shown by direct connection lines 61a, 61b), where the transmit
path and receive path of each wireless interface device shares the
antenna. As one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, the
antenna(s) may be polarized, directional, and/or physically separated to
provide a minimal amount of interference.

[0029] Referring again to FIG. 3, the digital receiver processing module
64, the digital transmitter processing module 76 and the memory 75 may be
included in the MAC module and execute digital receiver functions and
digital transmitter functions in accordance with a particular wireless
communication standard. The digital receiver functions include, but are
not limited to, digital frequency conversion, demodulation, constellation
demapping, decoding and/or descrambling. The digital transmitter
functions include, but are not limited to, scrambling, encoding,
constellation mapping, modulation and/or digital baseband frequency
conversion. The digital receiver and transmitter processing modules 64,
76 may be implemented using a shared processing device, individual
processing devices, or a plurality of processing devices. Such a
processing device may be a microprocessor, micro-controller, digital
signal processor, microcomputer, central processing unit, field
programmable gate array, programmable logic device, state machine, logic
circuitry, analog circuitry, digital circuitry and/or any device that
manipulates signals (analog and/or digital) based on operational
instructions. The memory 75 may be a single memory device or a plurality
of memory devices. Such a memory device may be a read-only memory, random
access memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory, static memory,
dynamic memory, flash memory and/or any device that stores digital
information. Note that when the processing module 64, 76 implements one
or more of its functions via a state machine, analog circuitry, digital
circuitry and/or logic circuitry, the memory storing the corresponding
operational instructions may be embedded with the circuitry comprising
the state machine, analog circuitry, digital circuitry and/or logic
circuitry.

[0030] When transmitting data, the wireless interface device 60 receives
outbound data 94 from the host device via the host interface 62. The host
interface 62 routes the outbound data 94 to the digital transmitter
processing module 76, which processes the outbound data 94 to produce
digital transmission formatted data 96 in accordance with a particular
wireless communication standard, such as IEEE 802.11 (including all
current and future subsections), Bluetooth, etc. The digital transmission
formatted data 96 will be a digital base-band signal or a digital low IF
signal, where the low IF typically will be in the frequency range of one
hundred kilohertz to a few megahertz. Subsequent stages convert the
digital transmission formatted data to an RF signal, and may be
implemented as follows. The digital-to-analog converter 78 converts the
digital transmission formatted data 96 from the digital domain to the
analog domain. The filtering/gain module 80 filters and/or adjusts the
gain of the analog signal prior to providing it to the mixing stage 82.
The mixing stage 82 directly converts the analog baseband or low IF
signal into an RF signal based on a transmitter local oscillation clock
83 provided by local oscillation module 74. Alternatively, the digital
baseband signal 96 may be directly converted to an RF signal. The power
amplifier 84 amplifies the RF signal to produce outbound RF signal 98,
which is filtered by the transmitter filter module 85. The antenna
section 61 transmits the outbound RF signal 98 to a targeted device such
as a base station, an access point and/or another wireless communication
device.

[0031] When receiving data, the wireless interface device 60 receives an
inbound RF signal 88 via the antenna section 61, which was transmitted by
a base station, an access point, or another wireless communication
device. The inbound RF signal is converted into digital reception
formatted data; this conversion may be implemented as follows. The
antenna section 61 provides the inbound RF signal 88 to the receiver
filter module 71 directly or via the transmit/receive switch 73, where
the receiver filter 71 bandpass filters the inbound RF signal 88. The
receiver filter 71 provides the filtered RF signal to low noise amplifier
72, which amplifies the signal 88 to produce an amplified inbound RF
signal. The low noise amplifier 72 provides the amplified inbound RF
signal to the mixing module 70, which directly converts the amplified
inbound RF signal into an inbound low IF signal or baseband signal based
on a receiver local oscillation clock 81 provided by local oscillation
module 74. The down conversion module 70 provides the inbound low IF
signal or baseband signal to the filtering/gain module 68. The
filtering/gain module 68 filters and/or gains the inbound low IF signal
or the inbound baseband signal to produce a filtered inbound signal. The
analog-to-digital converter 66 converts the filtered inbound signal from
the analog domain to the digital domain to produce digital reception
formatted data 90. Alternatively, the received RF signal may be directly
converted to a baseband signal 90. The digital receiver processing module
64 decodes, descrambles, demaps, and/or demodulates the digital reception
formatted data 90 to recapture inbound data 92 in accordance with the
particular wireless communication standard being implemented by wireless
interface device. The host interface 62 provides the recaptured inbound
data 92 to the host device (e.g., 50) via the peripheral interface (e.g.,
55).

[0032] As will be appreciated, the wireless communication device of FIG. 2
described herein may be implemented using one or more integrated
circuits. For example, the host device 50 may be implemented on one
integrated circuit, the digital receiver processing module 64, the
digital transmitter processing module 76 and memory 75 may be implemented
on a second integrated circuit, and the remaining components of the radio
60 and/or antenna 61, may be implemented on a third integrated circuit.
As an alternate example, the radio 60 may be implemented on a single
integrated circuit. As yet another example, the processing module 51 of
the host device and the digital receiver and transmitter processing
modules 64 and 76 may be a common processing device implemented on a
single integrated circuit. Further, the memory 52 and memory 75 may be
implemented on a single integrated circuit and/or on the same integrated
circuit as the common processing modules of processing module 51 and the
digital receiver and transmitter processing module 64 and 76. In a
selected embodiment, the present invention shows, for the first time, a
fully integrated, single chip coexistence solution for competing wireless
signals (such as 802.11a/bg and Bluetooth signals) with multiple priority
levels where the allocation of priority may be dynamically updated in
response to user input, detected application requirements, and other
inputs, in order to meet or maintain communications requirements for a
given wireless interface device in the face of potentially conflicting
transmissions, all implemented in CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide
Semiconductor), as part of a single chip transceiver radio.

[0033] The present invention enables wireless communication devices (such
as a Bluetooth device and a WLAN device) to communicate with one another
by controlling the transceiving events to reduce or eliminate conflicts
using dynamic, multiple priority levels that permit improved MAC
coordination of the device operations. FIG. 5 graphically depicts the
various control signal permutations (e.g., 53a-53j) that are available
for selection by using multiple, dynamically selectable priority levels.
In accordance with the present invention, an initially selected control
signal (e.g., 53b) is used to allocate receiving and/or transmission
priorities as between two wireless devices (e.g., a WLAN device 65 and a
Bluetooth device 63), but the control signal may be adjusted to another
control signal (e.g., 53h) when higher throughput is required for the
Bluetooth device 63. A control signal change can be precipitated by a
explicit user choice, upon detection of an active application (or its
throughput requirements) that is attempting to transmit or receive data
through a wireless interface device, by specific commands received in
connection with a particular wireless protocol, or any other data
transmission condition that allows or requires a different prioritization
or transmission performance. As will be appreciated, the control signal
may be dynamically adjusted in a variety of ways, including making
adjustments periodically, in response to user input, at predetermined
events or conditions, on a packet-by-packet basis, or on any other basis
that permits changes in the performance requirements of a particular
wireless transmission to be detected and accommodated.

[0034] Whether implemented as a two wire interface or four wire interface
(as illustrated with multi-priority control lines 29 in FIG. 2), or any
other type of interface, the present invention uses control signals on
these interfaces, wires or pins to exchange multiple levels of
prioritization information between the MAC layers in the wireless
devices. For example, an interface may be used to provide four levels of
priority to each device, with the highest priority being "00" and the
lowest priority being "11." By setting or programming the values for
these priority levels (e.g., 00/11 53a), one of the devices (e.g., the
WLAN device 65) is configured through the MAC layer for maximum
throughput. On the other extreme, a different priority level signal
(e.g., 11/00 53j) maximizes the throughput for the other device (e.g.,
the BT device 63). Thus, different combinations of the priority
information can be used to provide greater granularity in the MAC
controls, which can be used to maximize the performance of both links.

[0035] As shown in FIG. 5, the multiple-priority protocol of the present
invention allows more differentiation between traffic types than with
simple priority-based protocols. As a result, not only throughput, but
also response time (latency) can be guaranteed statistically. This
capability makes it possible to co-locate a Bluetooth-based HID device
with an 802.11 device on the same laptop computer, and to adjust the
priority allocations between the devices when an application on one
device requires greater throughput. Thus, the priority allocation
enhancement provides for dynamic control of the priorities using
programmable priority levels that can be used to protect real-time HID
traffic (such as a Bluetooth-based mouse, keyboard, etc.) from WLAN
interference (such as 802.11 signals).

[0036] In addition to providing multiple priority level combinations, the
priority level for a given wireless interface device may be dynamically
adjusted on a packet by packet basis, thereby permitting even greater
control and improved performance. For example, through use of the dynamic
multiple priority levels, the connection time for a first device (e.g., a
Bluetooth device) can be reduced by assigning a high priority to the
device. With one example of this approach, it is possible to reduce the
latency between an HIDoff signal to a Bluetooth device and the beginning
of character transmission latency to a second, WLAN device.

[0037] In a selected embodiment, a processing module (e.g., 64, 76) is
used to generate and exchange priority information between MAC modules.
Alternatively, the host device 50 may generate and allocate multi-level
priority information using an algorithm or other processing techniques to
define the priority level on a packet-by-packet basis. Wherever
processed, the packet priority may be defined as a function of any data
transmission condition that allows or requires a different prioritization
or transmission performance, whether input by the user or detected or
precipitated upon detection of an active application (or its throughput
requirements) or specific commands received in connection with a
particular wireless protocol, such as Synchronous Connection-Oriented
(SCO) commands, Human Interface Device (HID) commands, or Link Manager
Protocol (LMP) commands. Priority may also be defined as a function of
Quality of Service (QoS), such as proximity in time to the poll interval
(T.sub.poll), or as a function of the connection maintenance packet. In a
selected embodiment, a priority allocation and/or adjustment algorithm
may be selected by the host stack based on the applications being run on
the wireless communication devices, on the profiles in use, on remote
side capabilities and other wireless application-related information.

[0038] In a selected embodiment, one or more priority generating
algorithms may be stored on the wireless interface device (e.g., 59, 57)
in an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) and
configurable via Over The Air Firmware Update (OTAFU), and the host
application is used to control the algorithm selection. The algorithm or
firmware can also be stored in on-chip RAM which can be loaded or
configured by host driver software. With this approach, messaging schemes
may be stored on, or processed by, the host device and used to control
communication conflicts between wireless communication devices, such as
WLAN and Bluetooth devices. For example, the present invention may be
used to provide unique prioritization for each SCO link.

[0039] Turning now to FIG. 6, a method for cooperative transceiving
between wireless interface devices is illustrated. The method begins at
step 100, where each wireless interface device uses control information
(which has been specified at steps 96, 108 or 110 as described below) to
allocate device priority to a wireless interface device by selecting from
multiple, available priority levels. At step 102, at least one of the
wireless interface devices provides a prioritized transmit/receive status
indication to another wireless interface device, such as by using a
priority control signal 29. For example, one of the wireless interface
devices that transceives data packets in accordance with a Bluetooth
standard transmits a relatively low prioritized status indication, while
the other wireless interface devices transceive data packets in
accordance with an IEEE 802.11 standard transmits a relatively high
prioritized status indication.

[0040] At step 104, the prioritized status indication is processed to
control and eliminate conflicts based on the devices' relative
priorities, and at step 106, the wireless interface devices transmit or
receive a packet in accordance with the processing of the prioritized
status indication. For example, the processing (step 104) may determine
when a first wireless interface device having a higher prioritized status
indication is or will be receiving an inbound packet. This may be
determined by a processing module in wireless interface device that
compares its own priority level to the priority level transmitted by the
other wireless interface device using the control signal interface 29. By
comparing the local and sensed prioritized status indications,
transmission and reception may be controlled to give preference or
priority to the higher priority device. For example, at the start of an
atomic sequence, a local device may compare priority levels by checking
the prioritized status indications (or control information) from a peer
device and determining whether the local device can perform its
transaction based on the following rules:

[0041] (1) If the peer prioritized status indication is higher than the
local prioritized status indication, then the atomic sequence for the
local device is delayed to next time epoch.

[0042] (2) If the peer prioritized status indication is lower than the
local prioritized status indication, then the atomic sequence for the
local device is transmitted or received (as the case may be).

[0043] (3) If the peer prioritized status indication equals the local
prioritized status indication, then the atomic sequence for the local
device is transmitted using a transmission protocol (such as randomized
transceiving operations) that allows the local and peer devices to share
the transmission channel or that gives priority to the handling of the
atomic sequence by the local device fifty percent of the time.

[0044] Of course, other prioritization processing schemes could be used.
For example, one device could be given priority if its prioritized status
indication is equal to or greater than the peer device's prioritized
status indication, and could be given a lower priority if its prioritized
status indication is less than the peer device's prioritized status
indication.

[0045] If prioritized status indication processing indicates that a first
wireless interface device having a higher prioritized status indication
is or will be receiving an inbound packet, then at step 106, the other
wireless interface device delays transmitting the outbound packet until
the first wireless interface device has received the inbound packet. As
will be appreciated, to minimize the time that one wireless interface
device is receiving packets, and hence reduce the wait time, the packet
size of inbound packets and outbound packets may be optimized in
accordance with the particular wireless communication standard.

[0046] If the transmitting of the outbound packet would not interfere with
the receiving of the inbound packet, then at step 106, the other wireless
interface device transmits the outbound packet while the inbound packet
is being received. For example, the processing of the status indication
may indicate that the other wireless interface device is compliant with
the Bluetooth standard and may adaptively adjust its frequency hopping
sequence to reduce interference with the other wireless interface device,
in which case there is no interference and both devices may operate
concurrently.

[0047] In yet another example of the processing of the prioritized status
indications for two wireless interface devices transmitting outbound
packets, the lower priority first wireless interface device determines
(at step 104) that the higher priority second wireless interface device
is transmitting an outbound message. In this situation, the first
wireless interface device (at step 106) delays transmitting of the
outbound packet until the second wireless interface device has
transmitted the outbound packet unless interference would be minimal, in
which case both devices may transmit simultaneously. However, if the
prioritized status indication for the first wireless interface device is
increased above the second wireless interface device (such as described
herein when it is detected that packet data for the first device is used
for low latency, real time applications), then at step 106, the first
device transmits while transmission on the second device is delayed.

[0048] As indicated in FIG. 6, the control information that is used to
allocate device priority may be user-specified (as indicated at step 96).
For example, a user can enter control information to configure one of the
wireless devices (e.g., a Bluetooth device that is transmitting audio or
video data or some other real time application) to have high throughput
than another device. As another example of step 96, a user may wish to
expedite a data download operation over a WLAN device, in which case the
user can specify that the wireless interface device for the WLAN device
has a higher or even highest priority.

[0049] In addition or in the alternative, the prioritization allocations
may be dynamically and automatically updated by monitoring the
transmission activities or applications running on a wireless interface
device (step 108), and then adjusting the control information based on
the detected activity (step 110). For example, upon detecting (at step
108) that a predetermined application (such as a Human Interface Devices
(HID) application) is transmitting to or from a first wireless interface
device (such as a Bluetooth device), the control information is adjusted
(at step 110) to give higher priority to the first wireless interface
device. Control information adjustments can be made in response to other
system events (such as the detection of BT commands, packet maintenance
requirements, etc.) to provide real-time throughput by adjusting device
prioritization. Depending upon designer preferences, the adjustments can
be made periodically, in response to user input, at predetermined events
or conditions, on a packet-by-packet basis, or on any other basis that
permits changes in the performance requirements of a particular wireless
transmission to be detected and accommodated.

[0050] As will be appreciated, the monitoring and adjustment steps 108,
110 may be implemented as a series of discrete processing operations or
consolidated into a single program operation. In addition, a variety of
adjustment protocols may be followed to change the control information.
For example, when a predetermined condition is detected at step 108, the
control information may be adjusted at step 110 to provide maximum
priority for the wireless interface device that triggered the adjustment.
Alternatively, an incrementation technique may be used to incrementally
raise the priority for the wireless interface device that triggered the
adjustment, one or more levels at a time. As yet another alternative, a
target or threshold level of performance for the wireless interface
device may be established whereby the control information is adjusted at
step 110 to track to the target or threshold level in response to
detected device performance. Other adjustment algorithms may be selected,
based on user or designer preferences, to improve the overall wireless
transmission performance in the face of dynamic application and
transmission requirements.

[0051] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating wireless interface devices (e.g.,
57 and 59 in FIG. 2) associated with a host device (e.g., 50 in FIG. 2)
that coordinates communications with two external wireless devices (e.g.,
63 and 65 in FIG. 2). The wireless interface devices 57 and 59 and the
external wireless devices 63 and 65 may communication using any type of
standardized wireless communication including, but not limited to, IEEE
822.11 (a), (b), or (g), Bluetooth, GSM, CDMA, TDMA, LMPS, or MMPS. The
external devices 63 and 65 may use the same or different wireless
communication standard. When the external devices 63 and 65 use standards
that occupy the same or similar frequency spectrums, a conflict between
concurrent communications may occur. In other words, when the both
external devices are communicating with the wireless interface devices 57
and 59 their respective communications may interfere with the other's
communication, reducing the quality of service for one or both
communications.

[0052] To resolve the conflict the wireless interface devices 57 and 59
coordinate the communications with their respective external devices 63
and 65 using dynamically programmable multi-priority levels 66. As shown
in the accompanying table of FIG. 7, when a conflict arises, the wireless
interface devices 57 and 59 have a multitude of resolutions. For example,
when both wireless interface devices 57 and 59 desire to concurrently
transmit packets to their respective external devices 63 and 65 (i.e.,
any overlapping transmission), the wireless interface devices 57 and 59
determine whether a concurrent transmission would cause sufficient
interference that would degrade one or both of the transmissions. If not,
no change is required and the wireless interface devices 57, 59 may
concurrently transmit.

[0053] If, however, sufficient interference would exist, the wireless
interface devices process the multi-priority level information 66 for
each device to resolve the conflict by delaying one of the transmissions
with respect to the other to avoid concurrent transmissions, reducing the
transmit power for one or both of the concurrent transmissions, adjusting
the frequency hopping of a Bluetooth compliant wireless interface device
57 or 59 and/or adjusting the prioritization allocation for the devices
if required.

[0054] The wireless interface devices 57 and 59 may delay the
transmissions based on a priority protocol, a host protocol, a default
mechanism, an ad hoc mechanism, or a user defined ordering which takes
into account the respective priorities assigned to the devices, where
each device priority may be selected from multiple (at least three)
dynamically programmable priority levels. In essence, the delaying of the
concurrent transmissions removes the concurrency such that only one
transmission is occurring at any given time. The delaying may be
established by an equal or imbalanced staggering of the transmissions or
by allowing one of the communications to complete before the other is
serviced. For example, the host protocol may prohibit concurrent
communications. As such, the communication with one of external devices
that was initiated first will be completed before communication with the
other external devices is serviced. As a further example of the delaying
of concurrent transmissions, the priority protocol may dictate that user
interface wireless devices (e.g., wireless keyboard, mouse, etc.) have
priority over data transfer peripheral wireless devices (e.g., PDA, down
loading data to a cell phone, a printer, etc.). The priority protocol may
also prioritize real time communications (e.g., voice, audio, and/or
video data) over data transfer communications. In addition, the priority
protocol may indicate whether the concurrent transmissions are to be
staggered or sequential. The user defined priority list may be based on
the type of external devices. For example, the user may prioritize
communications with his or her PDA over any other type of communications,
followed by communications with the cell phone, etc. In this manner, the
conflict resolution may be customized to the user's preferences.

[0055] As described herein, the priority as between two transmitting
devices may be dynamically adjusted when one of the devices is
transmitting data from an application that requires real time data, such
as an audio or video application. In addition to boosting the priority
for wireless devices handling real time applications and the like, the
priority level may also be downgraded once it is detected that the real
time data application is no longer running or required. For example, the
wireless devices may be returned to a target or default priority scheme
once a high throughput application is finished.

[0056] As also indicated in the table in FIG. 7, when the conflict
corresponds to one wireless interface device potentially transmitting
data while the other wireless interface device is potentially receiving
data, the wireless interface devices determine whether concurrent
transmission and reception would cause significant interference. If not,
the current transmission and reception is performed. If, however,
significant interference would be produced, the wireless interface device
may resolve the conflict by using the host protocol and/or priority
protocol to delay the transmission to avoid the concurrency, delay the
reception to avoid the concurrency, reduce the transmit power or adjust
the frequency hopping of a Bluetooth device. In addition, the device
priorities may be adjusted in response to detected conditions, such as
active applications or detected throughput requirements for the wireless
device, to give reception priority to one device over the transmission
priority of another device, or vice versa.

[0057] When the conflict corresponds to concurrent receptions, the
wireless interface devices determine whether such concurrency would cause
significant interference. If not, the concurrent receptions are
processed. If, however, significant interference would exist, one of the
receptions may be delayed to avoid the concurrency or one of the external
devices may be instructed to reduce its transmitting power. In addition,
the device priorities may be adjusted in response to detected conditions,
such as active applications or detected throughput requirements for the
wireless device, to give reception priority to one device over another.

[0058] In accordance with the present invention, the control information
(e.g., multi-priority control 29 in FIG. 2) may be passed between MAC
modules of the wireless interface devices 57 and 59 using a four-wire
interface or control, though a two-wire interface provides an improved
pin count feature. Examples of two-wire and four-wire priority protocols
that may be implemented are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.
______ (entitled "Peer To Peer Wireless Communication Conflict
Resolution" and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). In a
selected embodiment, the present invention provides an adjustment
mechanism for monitoring transmission requirements for a given wireless
communication device and changing the priority allocations to give the
wireless communication device adequate priority (and resulting throughput
performance) to satisfy the transmission requirements for that device.

[0059] As described herein and claimed below, a method and apparatus are
provided for providing a dynamically updated and adjusted coexistence
protocol for wireless interface devices using multiple priority levels to
selectively adjust device throughput in response to changing transmission
conditions or requirements. The new technique may be used to adjust
device transmission performance in response to user-specified
requirements and/or in response to detection of predetermined
applications or commands being executing on the wireless device(s). In
one implementation, a laptop computer communicates wirelessly with at
least a Bluetooth peripheral device and a WLAN network device by
controlling the MAC modules for the peripheral and network to adjust
prioritization of the two devices using pairings of priority levels which
may be selected from a plurality of available priority levels. For
example, the WLAN might ordinarily be granted priority as between the two
devices, but when a HID application runs on the Bluetooth device, the
relative prioritization is adjusted using control information transmitted
between the MAC layers to increase the priority of the Bluetooth device
or to give the Bluetooth device priority over the WLAN device.

[0060] As will be appreciated, the present invention may be implemented in
a computer accessible medium including one or more data structures
representative of the circuitry included in the system described herein.
Generally speaking, a computer accessible medium may include storage
media such as magnetic or optical media, e.g., disk, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM,
volatile or non-volatile memory media such as RAM (e.g., SDRAM, RDRAM,
SRAM, etc.), ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, etc., as well as media accessible
via transmission media or signals such as electrical, electromagnetic, or
digital signals, conveyed via a communication medium such as a network
and/or a wireless link. For example, data structure(s) of the circuitry
on the computer accessible medium may be read by a program and used,
directly or indirectly, to implement the hardware comprising the
circuitry described herein. For example, the data structure(s) may
include one or more behavioral-level descriptions or register-transfer
level (RTL) descriptions of the hardware functionality in a high level
design language (HDL) such as Verilog or VHDL. The description(s) may be
read by a synthesis tool which may synthesize the description to produce
one or more netlist(s) comprising lists of gates from a synthesis
library. The netlist(s) comprise a set of gates which also represent the
functionality of the hardware comprising the circuitry. The netlist(s)
may then be placed and routed to produce one or more data set(s)
describing geometric shapes to be applied to masks. The masks may then be
used in various semiconductor fabrication steps to produce a
semiconductor circuit or circuits corresponding to the circuitry.
Alternatively, the data structure(s) on computer accessible medium may be
the netlist(s) (with or without the synthesis library) or the data
set(s), as desired. In yet another alternative, the data structures may
comprise the output of a schematic program, or netlist(s) or data set(s)
derived therefrom. While a computer accessible medium may include a
representation of the present invention, other embodiments may include a
representation of any portion of the wireless communication device,
transceiver circuitry and or processing modules contained therein.

[0061] While the system and method of the present invention has been
described in connection with the preferred embodiment, it is not intended
to limit the invention to the particular form set forth, but on the
contrary, is intended to cover such alternatives, modifications and
equivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of the
invention as defined by the appended claims so that those skilled in the
art should understand that they can make various changes, substitutions
and alterations without departing from the spirit and scope of the
invention in its broadest form.